Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, a Tribal-owned Business Portfolio
the OPPORTUNITY
Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, owned by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota, was seeking support to update and scale their website, branding, and storytelling. Our mission? To better capture the incredible impact of their portfolio companies, philanthropic support, community services, and economic development work.
THE SCOPE
Initially, our team was hired to support a brand extension project, which included updated brand visual assets and brand storytelling.
As a result of our collaboration, we were hired to create a new website, and work as an extension of their team in an ongoing retainer capacity.
THE DELIVERABLES
Our partnership is ongoing, but to-date we have delivered new, more comprehensive brand assets and guidelines, launched a new website in the summer of 2025, designed a content and social strategy to better capture incredible stories of MLCV's impact, highlight associates across their portfolio, and improve communications between MLCV, its companies, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, strategic partners, and the public.
It's incredible to work with teams that are driving significant community impact. MLCV is one of the best examples of a team that keeps their mission to improve the lives of Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe tribal members, and community members in their region, at the forefront of everything they do.
To enable further growth, MLCV made the critical decision to reinvest in their brand to create new and updated brand visual assets, brand storytelling, launch a new website that would scale along with their organization, and create a cohesive communications, content and social strategy to amplify their impact.
We are incredibly proud of the work accomplished in partnership with the MLCV team, and inspired by their dedication each day. We look forward to our continued collaboration.
To support MLCV's brand marketing and communications, we partnered with their team to deliver a brand extension, inclusive of an expanded color palette, fonts and typography, custom graphics, brand voice and tone, and an updated brand story.
The previous MLCV website did not capture the breadth and depth of MLCV and its portfolio companies, and did not amplify the significant impact its associates make each day through their work. We conducted a website audit, capturing existing pages, messaging and assets.
Next, we designed a new sitemap, content architecture, made webpage recommendations to enhance the user experience, developed new and revised website copy, developed UX/UI wireframes, visual design and developed the site.
We partnered with MLCV's IT team to migrate the site to a new platform, set up new domain and hosting accounts, implemented Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, created a Google for Business account, configured an analytics dashboard, and designed a multi-channel website launch strategy to drive traffic to the new site.
To support the launch of the MLCV website — and more importantly, to amplify the impact of their work — Storyworthy designed a corporate communications, content and social strategy.
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is a sovereign government, with three distinct branches. To support the announcement of a new Chief Executive of the tribe, and new government leadership, we worked with their team to design a signage installation piece to be implemented across their businesses in the near future.
the OPPORTUNITY
Designing a brand strategy to match the innovative companies, products and customer experiences built by the incubation arm of the world's largest retailer.
THE SCOPE
In collaboration with Store Nº8 and Walmart executives, we developed a brand strategy to update all existing digital channels, and kick off a content and marketing engine. We led an RFP process to identify VMLY&R as an agency partner with global resources to support UX/UI design and development of the site, and to produce animations for the brand video.
THE DELIVERABLES
A new and refreshed site, thought leadership content, internal and external brand communications, social strategy and brand video.
Walmart made an investment to launchStore Nº8, its incubation arm, to create the next wave of tech innovations. Our team worked with Store Nº8 and Walmart leaders, to design a brand story, thought leadership content engine, brand video, and a refreshed website.
Additionally, we partnered with the Store Nº8 portfolio company CEOs and Walmart's Global Communications team, to develop a protocol for de-stealthing portfolio companies, products, capabilities and shopper experiences.
This work included collaborations with Google to produce a video podcast episode announcing investments Walmart and Google made in the conversational commerce space — voice and text shopper experiences.
